The  Crucible 


A Southerner's 
Impression  of  Hampton 


‘The  attempt  to  cast  all  mind*  in 
one  mould  is  useless” — Armstrong 


? 1 

■£  -•  w-s' 


The  Crucible 


A Southerner’s  Impression  of  Hampton 
J.  W.  CHURCH 


The  Press  of 

The  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute 
Hampton,  Virginia 
1915 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 


William  H.  Taft,  President,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Francis  G.  Peabody,  Vice  President,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Clarence  H.  Kelsey,  Vice  President,  New  York  City 
Hollis  B.  Frissell,  Secretary,  Hampton,  Va. 

George  Foster  Peabody,  New  York  City 
Charles  E.  Bigelow,  New  York  City 
Arthur  Curtiss  James,  New  York  City 
William  Jay  Schieffelin,  New  York  City 
Lunsford  L.  Lewis,  Richmond,  Va. 

James  W.  Cooper,  Hartford,  Ct. 

William  W.  Frazier,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Frank  W.  Darling,  Hampton,  Va. 

Samuel  C.  Mitchell,  Newark,  Del. 

Robert  Bacon,  New  York  City 


FORM  OF  BEQUEST 

I give  and  devise  to  the  trustees  of  The  Hampton  Normal 
and  Agricultural  Institute,  Hampton,  Virginia,  the  sum  of 
dollars,  payable  • 


HAMPTON  INSTITUTE  WaTER  FRONT 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/cruciblesouthern00chur_0 


THE  HAMPTON  BATTALION 


The  Crucible 


A Southerner’s  Impression  of  Hampton 

ampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute  ! 
The  name  lioen’t  suggest  anything  of  particular 
interest  ; does  it  ? Rather  prosaic  than  otherwise, 
and  when  you  couple  the  uninteresting  title  with 
the  fact  it  is  an  industrial  school  for  Negroes  and  Indians,  it 
seems  hardly  worth  while  to  read  about  it.  Probably  that  is 
why,  to  the  great  majority  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  the 


WINONA.  OR  ELDER  SISTER.  LODGE 


name  “Hampton”  means  little  or  nothing.  Right  there  is 
where  they  make  the  greatest  mistake  of  their  lives.  Of  all  the 
places  of  absorbing  interest  in  the  country  Hampton  Institute 
can  easily  claim  the  lead,  and  make  good  that  claim,  whether  it 
be  from  an  industrial,  sociological,  philanthropic,  or  any  other 
basis. 

The  institution  is  a crucible  — a veritable  crucible  — in  which 
for  nearly  half  a century  a modern  miracle  has  taken  place. 
From  out  the  South,  where  Negro  life  has  been  an  existence  of 
mental  and  moral  darkness,  steeped  in  ignorance,  idleness,  and 
superstition,  a steady,  ceaseless  current  has  flowed  into  this 
crucible,  there  to  he  transformed  by  the  wonder-touch,  and  in 
turn  poured  forth,  a living  stream  of  moral  integrity,  mental 
strength,  and  industrial  ability. 

Quietly  has  this  miracle  been  wrought  — with  infinite 
patience  and  surpassing  skill,  with  kindly  firmness  and  an 
unswerving,  steadfast  endeavor. 

The  inclination  to  deal  in  superlatives  where  Hampton  is 
the  theme  is  inevitable.  The  saving  grace  lies  in  the  fact  that 
when  you  attempt  to  describe  Hampton,  only  superlatives  can 
deal  fairly  with  the  coldest  of  facts. 

It  is  not  a school.  It  is  an  industrial  village  — a village 
nestled  on  the  shore  of  Hampton  Roads,  with  the  clear  water 
of  Chesapeake  Bay  lapping  its  green  lawns,  where  they  run  to 
the  water’s  edge.  Beneath  the  shade  of  hundreds  of  magnificent 
trees,  far  reaches  of  velvet  greensward  stretch  in  every  direction, 
laced  here  and  there  with  level,  spotless  paths.  In  this  villa  ge 
there  are  more  than  a hundred  buildings  ; many  of  them  are 


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embowered  in  thousands  of  roses,  or  half  hidden  beneath  the 
clinging  vines  that  clamber  in  luxuriant  profusion  to  the  very 
roofs. 

The  beauty  of  the  village  does  not  end  with  its  physical 
charm.  There  is  something  more  than  that.  In  many  other 
places  there  are  lawns  as  beautiful,  trees  as  stately,  and  flowers 
in  the  same  luxuriant  profusion,  although  the  combination  of  all 
is  rare.  But  here  there  is  something  subtle  and,  at  first, 
indefinable  in  the  air  of  the  place.  It  is  the  atmosphere  of  con- 
tent, engendered  by  half  a century  of  earnest  and  contented  life 
within  the  grounds  of  Hampton.  It  is  not  imagination.  It  is 
real,  tangible,  and  one  of  the  greatest  assets  of  the  Institute  in 
fulfilling  its  great  mission. 

It  would  take  volumes  to  tell  how  Hampton  has  been 
brought  to  its  present  state,  and  the  results  it  has  obtained,  but 
in  order  that  the  present  may  be  understood,  a brief  word  of 
the  past  is  necessary. 

The  Institute  was  created  in  1868  by  General  Samuel  C. 
Armstrong,  who  was  then  stationed  at  Hampton.  He  had  been 
sent  there  by  the  United  States  Government  as  a mediator  be- 
tween the  whites  and  blacks,  in  those  dark,  perplexing  days 
following  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 

He  found  hundreds  of  Negroes,  homeless,  hungry,  and  un- 
skilled in  any  manual  art,  eking  out  a miserable  existence  and 
daily  falling  lower  and  lower  in  the  social  scale.  Freedom  had 
merely  turned  them  loose  under  new  conditions  to  which  they 
were  in  no  wise  able  to  rise.  The  plantations  on  which  they 
had  worked  as  slaves  were  in  ruins,  and  they  were  mentally  and 


physically  unfit  to  secure  or  retain  any  position  requiring  the 
least  modicum  of  manual  skill  or  intelligence.  To  meet  this 
situation,  and  avert  the  tragedy  of  a race  that  must  live  and  yet 
could  not  earn  its  bread,  was  the  tremendous  task  General 
Armstrong  set  for  himself.  With  the  aid  of  the  American 
Missionary  Association,  he  established  a small  industrial  school 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Institute,  with  two  assistants  and 
fifteen  pupils.  No  thought  of  social  equality  or  the  higher 


CORRELATION  OF  ARITHMETIC  AND  BRICKLAYING 


education  befogged  his  mind.  The  only  end  was  to  teach  the 
Negro  how  to  work,  that  he  might  earn  his  living  honestly,  and 
adjust  himself  to  the  new  conditions  of  life  thrust  upon  him. 

For  twenty-five  years  General  Armstrong  labored  at  his 
task,  and  under  his  firm  hand  and  steadfast  purpose  the  Hamp- 
ton Institute  lived  and  thrived.  Then  death  called  him  from 
his  work,  and  Dr.  H.  B.  Frissell,  for  many  years  his  assistant, 
stepped  into  the  breach  and  the  work  went  on. 


9 


So  much  for  the  past,  of  which  might  be  written  many 
volumes  replete  with  stories  of  heart-breaking  struggles,  almost 
divine  patience,  and  heroic  self-sacrifice. 

Today  there  are  thirteen  hundred  students,  about  equally 
divided  as  to  sex,  working  and  studying  under  a corps  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  teachers  and  instructors.  The  records 
show  that  over  seventy-five  hundred  students  have  gone  from 
Hampton,  ably  equipped  to  earn  an  honest  living,  rehabilitate 
the  barren  farms,  and  stimulate  by  their  work  and  example  a 
desire  for  good  citizenship  and  better  physical  conditions  among 
their  race. 

Hampton  does  nothing  by  halves.  When  the  young  Negroes 
enter  the  school,  it  is  with  the  knowledge  that  for  four  years 
unceasing  toil  lies  before  them  — toil  that  is  lightened  by  every 
incentive  to  interest  them  in  their  work  that  the  human  mind 
can  devise,  and  by  a mode  of  life  that  impresses  them  with  the 
dignity  of  labor  and  the  value  of  clean  living,  but  nevertheless 
unceasing  toil.  Idleness  was  the  Negro’s  heritage,  ignorance 
his  portion  in  the  world’s  scheme  ; to  eradicate  these  two  evils 
from  his  nature  has  been  Hampton’s  greatest  endeavor — and 
success  has  crowned  the  effort. 

The  dormitories  are  spotless  — the  floor  of  each  room  is 
scrubbed  by  its  inmate  until  the  pine  fairly  glistens  ; the  lockers 
and  bedding  are  daily  inspected  by  the  janitor  in  charge.  The 
discipline  is  patterned  after  West  Point  and  is  rigidly  adhered  to. 

At  five-thirty  in  the  morning  the  students  arise.  At  six  they 
breakfast.  The  morning  is  spent  in  workshop  and  classroom 
until  noon.  Then  the  chimes  over  Memorial  Church  ring  out. 


and  in  ten  minutes  the  boys  have  cast  aside  their  working  clothes, 
donned  their  uniforms,  and  the  battalion  is  formed  on  the  parade 
ground  for  inspection  by  the  Commandant.  The  band  plays, 
and  in  perfect  formation  they  companies  march  toward  Virginia 
Hall,  where  their  meals  are  served.  On  the  green  campus  be- 
fore the  vine-clad  hall,  the  battalion  forms  in  two  long  files,  facing 
each  other,  about  thirty  feet  apart.  The  students  uncover,  and 
between  the  files  march  the  standard-bearers  carrying  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  and  the  blue-and-white  flag  of  Hampton  Institute. 


STUDENTS  AT  WORK  IN  THE  CREAMERY 

The  files  close,  and  in  perfect  order  the  entire  student  body 
marches  into  one  great  dining  hall.  A bell  sounds.  A moment 
of  silence,  and  then,  softly,  but  with  increasing  volume,  a thou- 
sand voices  sing  in  harmony  the  Hampton  grace  : 


“Thou  art  great  and  Thou  art  good, 

And  we  thank  Thee  for  this  food  ; 

By  Thy  hand  must  we  he  fed, 

Give  us,  Lord,  our  daily  bread,  Amen.” 

At  one  o’clock  they  are  back  in  the  classrooms,  the  work- 
shops, the  stables,  or  on  the  farm,  and  here,  it  may  be  said  in 
passing,  is  where  Hampton  is  doing  its  greatest  work  at  present. 
“Back  to  the  farm”  is  the  way  Hampton  believes  the  Negro 
will  find  peace  and  congenial  labor.  No  agricultral  school  in 
America  is  better  equipped  for  this  purpose,  and  when  a gradu- 
ate of  the  agriculutral  class  leaves,  he  is  amply  able,  as  scores 
of  instances  have  shown,  to  make  a good  living  on  ground 
where  before,  as  one  graduate  aptly  put  it,  he  “couldn’t  even 
raise  a disturbance.” 

The  evening  meal  is  at  six  o’clock.  Then  come  prayers  in 
Cleveland  Hall  Chapel,  and  classes  from  seven  to  nine  for 
students  who  have  been  at  work  all  day  at  their  trades.  Then 
taps  sounds  and  the  day  is  over. 

There  is  recreation  and  exercise  in  plenty  interspersed 
with  the  daily  labor.  Baseball,  tennis,  rowing,  and  every  other 
outdoor  sport  that  tends  to  strengthen  the  muscles  and  lungs 
and  quicken  the  brain  and  eye,  are  given  the  students.  But 
sports  and  recreation  are  not  allowed  to  interfere  with  the 
studies  or  industrial  training  for  which  the  students  come.  That 
the  problem  of  healthy,  happy,  earnest  life  has  been  solved  is 
amply  borne  out  by  the  school  records,  where  it  is  shown  that 
in  ten  years  only  fourteen  deaths  have  occurred  among  the 
students.  Wherever  they  are  working  or  playing,  laughter  and 
song  are  in  the  air,  and  a surly  word  or  frowning  brow  is 
rarely  seen. 


TRAINING  OF  NEGRO  BLACKSMITHS 


NEGRO  BOYS  REMODELING  THE  TRADE  SCHOOL 


The  academic  work  is  almost  entirely  correlated  with  in- 
dustrial training.  No  language  other  than  English  is  taught, 
nor  any  sciences  or  isms  that  cannot  be  applied  to  their  daily 
working  lives.  The  Hampton  idea  is  to  turn  out  farmers, 
skilled  workers  in  the  trades,  teachers  equipped  to  handle  the 
problem  of  carrying  on  the  elementary  education  of  their  race, 
and  to  imbue  every  graduate  with  the  fixed  idea  of  aiding,  to  the 
utmost  of  his  or  her  ability,  in  raising  the  moral  and  industrial 
standard  of  the  race.  That  this  plan  does  produce  leaders  is 
proved  by  the  score  of  graduates  whose  names  have  become  a 
power  for  good  among  the  Negroes,  from  the  now  famous 
Booker  T.  Washington,  who  graduated  from  Hampton  in  1875, 
down  to  many  whose  work  is  known  only  to  the  community  in 
which  they  live,  where  they  have  instilled  industry,  moral,  and 
physical  cleanliness,  and  a desire  for  more  useful  lives  among 
their  fellows. 

Hampton  is  no  place  for  the  incorrigible  Negro.  Its  scholar- 
ships are  intended  for  the  Negro  youth  and  girl  who  have  in 
them  the  mental,  moral,  and  physical  material  to  utilize  their 
training  for  the  benefit  of  their  race.  In  brief,  it  is  the  aim  of 
Hampton  to  create  leaders,  who,  in  turn,  shall  take  up  the 
extension  work  in  degree  great  or  small  according  to  ability  and 
environment. 

This,  then,  is  the  work  of  Hampton  Institute.  It  is  not 
a state  or  government  institution,  but  a private  corporation, 
existing  from  year  to  year  by  endowments  and  subscriptions  from 
individuals  whose  sympathy  with  the  work  is  thus  expressed 
and  who  count  themselves  honored  in  sharing  in  a work  so  bene- 
ficent in  its  influence,  so  wide  reaching  in  its  practical  good, 
and  so  high  in  its  aim  and  method. 


4 


The  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute 


HOLLIS  B FRISSELL  FRANK  K.  ROGERS  HERBERT  B TURNER 

PRINCIPAL  TREASURER  CHAPLAIN 

Founded  by  Samuel  Chapman  Armstrong  in  1868  for  the  prac- 
tical education  of  Negro  and  Indian  youth. 

To  make  earnest,  useful  Christian  citizens,  who  will  lead  and 
teach  their  people,  is  its  object. 

The  needs  of  the  school  are  many,  and  its  support  depends 
almost  entirely  upon  private  contributions. 

Any  amount  you  may  desire  to  contribute,  no  matter  how  small, 
will  be  gratefully  received. 

In  providing  a Hampton  scholarship  for  some  deserving  Negro 
boy  or  girl,  you  will  give  your  donation  a human,  personal 
element,  as  a record  is  kept  for  the  donor  of  the  student 
who  receives  the  scholarship. 

One  hundred  dollars  pays  the  tuition  of  a student  for  one  year, 
including  an  academic  and  industrial  scholarship. 

Thirty  dollars  will  provide  an  industrial  scholarship  for  one 
year. 

Seventy  dollars  will  provide  an  academic  scholarship  for  one 
year. 

A permanent  full  scholarship  can  he  endowed  for  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars. 

All  contributions  may  be  sent  to  the  Treasurer,  F.  K.  Rogers, 
Hampton,  Va.,  by  whom  they  will  be  acknowledged. 


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